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A Novel
by Simon Sebag Montefiore
Book Reviewed by:This article relates to Sashenka
Rasputin's role within St. Petersburg's high society is detailed throughout
the first section of Sashenka.
Gregori Yefimovich Rasputin was born in a small village in Siberia in 1864 or
1865. At the age of 18 he was sent to a monastery, possibly as a penance for a
minor theft. He returned a changed man, and embarked on the life of a religious
mystic. He married in 1889 and had three children. In
1901 he started traveling, spending time in Greece and Jerusalem, eventually settling in St.
Petersburg in 1903 as a self-proclaimed holy man, healer and prophet.
He was initially well-received by the Russian Orthodox Church in St Petersburg. He was
charismatic, with a talent for calming people and his forthright peasant style lent
him increasing credibility with St. Petersburg's aristocracy. He developed a
relationship with Anna Vyrubova, a close friend of Tsaritsa Alexandra, which
eventually led to his introduction to the Empress.
In 1905, Alexandra's only son Alexei, a hemophiliac, suffered internal
bleeding as the result of a fall. His condition worsened, and the physicians in
attendance were sure the boy would die. As a last resort, Alexandra asked Anna
Vyrubova to bring Rasputin, who banished the doctors, stopped all treatment, and
prayed over the child. Miraculously, Alexei was much better in the morning. Much
conjecture has surrounded Rasputin's power to heal. Some suggest he was a
skilled hypnotist, while others feel that simply getting the doctors to leave
Alexei alone was the cure. It's also been postulated that one of Alexei's
treatments was a new miracle drug – aspirin – which was in fact causing the
bleeding to worsen. Regardless, from that point on Rasputin was called whenever
Alexei fell ill, and he gained considerable influence with the Imperial couple
as a result.
Rasputin preached a rather unorthodox theology. He claimed that repentance
was necessary for salvation, but there could be no repentance without sin. The
larger the sin, the greater the repentance, and therefore yielding to temptation
was, in fact, a holy act. His followers, increasingly from the higher echelons
of St. Petersburg society, embraced the dissolute way of life Rasputin seemed to
advocate.
By 1916, the affects of years of war were being felt by most of St.
Petersburg's citizens. Thousands had been killed in battle, and supplies of food
and other staples were dwindling rapidly. At the same time, members of the
aristocracy were perceived as living an opulent and debauched lifestyle. Tsar
Nicholas's policies were repressive, and censorship was absolute. These factors
led to discontent among the populace who blamed the Tsar for their
increasing impoverishment and distrusted the German-born Tsaritsa. Rasputin
became a lightening rod for their resentment. Journalists and politicians
exaggerated his influence over the Imperial couple and claimed it was evidence
that the Tsar should no longer have absolute power, further inciting the people
to revolt. The resulting lack of confidence in the Tsar's ability to govern
eventually forced him to abdicate.
The details of Rasputin's death may never be fully known, as those present
repeatedly changed their accounts. One account is that Felix Yussupov, a
member of the royal family, invited Rasputin to his palace on December 29, 1916.
Rasputin was given poison, but it was ineffective. Yussupov then shot Rasputin
once in the back, and left the body alone in a room while he rejoined his other
guests. Yassupov returned later to check the body, at which point Rasputin stood
up and attempted to choke Yassupov. Further shots were fired, but these, too,
failed to kill Rasputin. He was bludgeoned and then dumped through a hole in the
ice in a nearby river. When his body was found several days later, its arms were
raised in a position that seemed to indicate Rasputin had been alive at the time
of immersion.
A more recent theory put forward in a
BBC documentary suggests that he was murdered by rogue members of the British
Secret Service because he was seen as a serious threat to the British because,
had he persuaded the Tsar to pull out of the First World War, the Allies would
have been overwhelmed on the Western Front by German troops redeployed from the
Eastern front.
Filed under People, Eras & Events
This "beyond the book article" relates to Sashenka. It originally ran in January 2009 and has been updated for the
November 2009 paperback edition.
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